High-Stakes Testing Time in Somerville Public Schools
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(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

It’s high-stakes testing season again. On April 25, 2016, the Somerville School Committee unanimously passed a resolution opposing high-stakes testing. Yet, Somerville students are still being tested. Many students will spend at least five (5) days in testing: two (2) days proving their math abilities and three (3) days being tested on their English Language Arts capabilities (reading, writing, and analysis of fiction and non-fiction).

Many Massachusetts parents and teachers have joined the “Less Testing More Learning” movement which, as you might suspect, favors less testing and more learning. While Massachusetts state law specifies schools are required to give the tests, it does not state that every student must take the tests.

Some Somerville parents have chosen to take matters into their own hands and refuse to have their children participate in this round of MCAS. Here is an anonymized draft of one letter:

<Name of School Principal>

<School Address>

<Date>

Dear <Name of School Principal>,

We are writing to let you know that our children will not take part in any of the sessions of MCAS 2.0, Math and ELA for the 2016/17 school year: <Name/s of Student/s and Grade Level/s>.

We ask that you make arrangements for these children to have a productive educational experience during the testing period(s). We do not want our children to be logged into the test by themselves or anyone else, nor sat in front of a computer on which the test will be given. We request that they be marked as Not Tested for each and every MCAS test this school year. As per Mitchell Chester’s suggestion, we encourage the test administrator to document the refusals and keep them on record at <Name of School> in case questions arise about the school’s participation rate.

Thank you for all that you and the teachers at <Name of School> do to educate our children. Our decision to opt out is not a negative judgment on anyone at <Name of School>. On the contrary, it is our intention to show support for our teachers and staff and to protest the state’s overemphasis on high stakes standardized testing in public schools and its far-reaching detrimental effects on our children’s education. It is not fair to the students, teachers, or administrators. We hope this small protest can be the start of wider recognition of the problems with high stakes testing and a move towards addressing its inherent problems.

The decision to opt our children out of MCAS this year is ours alone. Should you have concerns or questions, please address them to the parents signing this letter, not to our children. As per Mitchell Chester’s instructions, we do not want our children to be pressured into taking the test nor punished for not taking it.

We continue to be grateful to be a part of the <Name of School> community.

Respectfully,

<Parent/s Name/s>

Parent of <Name of Student>

<Contact Information>

cc: <teacher/s of student/s>

Additional information on opting-out of high-stakes testing:

Resources for Opting Out of Standardized Tests

http://www.citizensforpublicschools.org/the-facts-on-opting-out-of-mcas-or-parcc/

Sincerely,

Jennifer Bullard, Nancy Clougherty, Brian Duplisea, Gina Garro, Jamal Halawa, Renée Scott, and David Scott